Journalism waters are getting murkier

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Michael Jackson's July 2009 death certificate.

Who is more disappointed in Governor Christie's continued denial of White House ambitions?


Is it the fat-cat donors he addressed at the Reagan Library on Tuesday or Editor Francis Scandale, who pulls out all the stops on Page 1 of The Record today to make the GOP bully look presidential?

Candidate in looks only 

That Christie headline reminds me of this: "Newspaper in looks only." 

One example is the A-1 caption under the flag-waving Christie photo, noting he spoke to "supporters that want him to run for president," rather than the grammatical "supporters who want him to run ...." 


Big Christie fan

You can't tell whether the reporter, Juliet Fletcher of the State House Bureau (a former Trenton reporter for The Press of Atlantic City), works for a newspaper or the Christie administration. Here's her lead paragraph:

"Governor Christie, himself the center of a fever pitch of presidential hype, delivered his version of American leadership Tuesday before a well-heeled conservative crowd at the home of one of the most powerful Republican symbols."

Boy, that's a lot to digest -- "fever pitch," "leadership" and "powerful" all in one graph. 


What does she mean by the awkward "delivered his version of American leadership"? And the Reagan Library is referred to as a "home."


Isn't the "fever pitch of presidential hype" manufactured by The Record and other media?

At the end of her second graph, she writes: "His out-of-state fund-raising tour this week helped push the Christie-for-president rumors to their greatest heights so far."

How high would that be? As high as 1 Garret Mountain Plaza in Woodland Park? As high as the new World Trade Center, being built with some of the toll hikes the governor approved recently?

In a video on northjersey.com, Christie becomes the latest Republican to blame President Obama for the "class warfare" the GOP has been waging on unions and the middle class in a concerted effort to preserve low tax rates for the rich.


Water everywhere

The A-1 off-lead today is a story reporting three more salaried Paterson officials -- for a total of seven -- got overtime checks after Irene's floods.

Editor Deirdre Sykes' assignment desk has been reporting these revelations in dribs and drabs, like a difficult bowel movement. Is that deliberate -- in an effort to keep the story on Page 1 -- or is the desk just lazy and incompetent?

The lead paragraph notes "the political water surrounding Mayor Jeffrey Jones got rougher Tuesday night ...."

Flood waters and "political water." That's the height of Woodland Park journalism today. Shouldn't it be "waters"? Why not try "political urine" while you're at it? That would be a real pisser.


Black men are bad

I guess it's just coincidence today's front page features at least three black men who are in trouble -- Mayor Jones of Paterson; George Wright, a convicted killer from New Jersey captured in Portugal; and Dr. Conrad Murphy, on trial in Michael Jackson's death -- under a large photo of Christie as the Great White Hope. LOL.


Scandale's clumsy manipulation of the news is so apparent, it's an insult to readers. Again today, the paper is black, white and red all over.


On A-3 today, a story reports AAA is suing "to stop recent toll hikes on Hudson River crossings." How do you "stop" toll hikes that went into effect 10 days ago?


Unsuitable headline


A story on a lawsuit filed by 587 employees against Nextel is called "Nextel suit" in the headline on A-6 today -- about as wrong as Liz Houlton's news copy desk can get it.

There is so little local news in Sykes' Local section today, a business seminar on the 2014 Meadowlands Super Bowl was needed to plug a hole on the front (L-1).


Too lazy to report on commuting problems, Road Warrior John Cichowski writes his umpteenth L-1 column on tailgaters. 


Cichowski's major flaw as a reporter is looking to readers for column ideas, instead of doing basic legwork and trusting his instincts as a journalist.


Instead of Hackensack news, city residents are given a full-blown story on another routine motion in the criminal case against suspended Police Chief Ken Zisa.


Second look


One of Sykes' assignment minions apparently has barred transportation reporter Karen Rouse from reporting complaints from commuters about having to stand on rush-hour buses and trains into the city or being forced to ride decrepit local buses that are 30 years old.


On Tuesday, Rouse did report on a complaint from a bus rider, but only because his foot was run over by a bus and he lost several toes (L-3).